Libya: polls between March and April - UN Envoy

Presidential elections in Libya will not happen on December 10.

UN Special Envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salamé, said a spike in violence had forced a postponement of the election date.

In an interview before the Palermo conference, Salame said the election would be held between late March and late June, but that the format of the poll would depend on the outcome of the national conference scheduled for early 2019.

“We believe that conditions are more conducive to a return to our action plan and that is what we intend to do by first calling on Libyans to meet preferably on Libyan soil and agree on a number of outstanding issues, such as: what to do with the constitutional framework, what to do with election dates, with the misallocation of wealth, and then go to the elections.”

80% of Libyans hope that the elections would end the chaotic political conflict that has shaken the country since Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011.

Salame added that, “It’s a possibility, spring is from March 22 to June 22.”

Palermo is hosting a two-day international conference on Libya. The organizers hope to convince General Khalifa Haftar and the head of the government of national unity Fayez al-Sarraj, who are fighting over the country, to stop hostilities and the flow of refugees between the Libyan and Italian coasts.